Alice Springs

Our morning was taken up with getting the laundry done and cleaning up after our week on the road. After lunch we were collected by John a local guide for a tour of the town and surroundings. Our first stop was the Aboriginal culture center of Alice Springs where we saw the most vibrant water colour paintings and example of Dot painting a technique popular with native artists.  I want to try this type of art it could be my style. Next stop was to see the operation center of the Royal Australian Air service. The first planes were operated by the Queensland And Northern Territories Air Service now known as Qantas !  We heard one of the operators monitoring a rescue mission that was in progress while we there. The salaries for all the staff are paid by the government but they rely on fundraising to purchase the aircraft and all equipment. Every home outside an 80km of Alice Springs is entitled to their services and are given a medical kit of medication in numbered packages. So when a person in distress calls in they are given the number of the medication that is suited to their symptoms. One man was told to give his wife a no 9 medication when his wife got worse the doctor discovered he had run out of no 9 and gave her a 4 and a 5 instead.  Then we went to the School of the Air which was established in the 50s to provide education for kids on isolated cattle stations as far as 1000km away thru radio. Today it is a highly technical operation involving interactive computerized lessons provided by a staff of 15 teachers. They are flown into Alice Springs 3 times a year in order to socialize with other kids as many of them are the only children on the station. On our way to telegraph station museum John gave us a running commentary on local gossip but he was interrupted by a mop of Kangaroos that ran across the road in front of our car finally we got to see live kangaroos in the wild it was worth the wait. The telegraph station was very interesting it's establishment marked the beginning of Alice Springs. The following day before our flight to Cairns we walked around town I got to do some gift shopping and we relaxed by the pool with cool beers. Our flight was a 2 1/2hrs flight with  Qantas they gave us free drinks snacks and a hot meal just like the old days a pleasure to fly with them. We got a shuttle from Cairns to Port Douglas 50km and arrived at our resort at 10pm to find a note pinned to the reception door welcoming us which said phone Johnny for directions to our room and complete the registration form in the drawer underneath the phone where we found the key to our room. By now a tropical rain storm had started. Johnny told us go past the pool turn left and left again and we couldn't miss our room luckily we still had a flashlight from the camping trip to guide us to the room which we finally found and were soaked thru but it was hot rain so we just laughed it off and settled in for the night.   MR&K

Mary Rose